


Drug use, alcohol, smoking in fanfic

by yourlibrarian



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fandom - Fandom, Supernatural
Genre: Drug Use, Fanfiction, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Meta, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 15:48:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6760171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An enormous amount of drinking seems to go on in many fics.  This stands out to me for two reasons.  The first is that the amount of drinking seen compared to the amount of smoking and drug use is very imbalanced.  And it seems to me that a central reason is that in canon we hardly ever see these characters smoking or using drugs, but we do often see them drink.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drug use, alcohol, smoking in fanfic

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on September 13, 2009 as part of the [Mini Meta Fest](http://skuf.dreamwidth.org/18453.html).

I had to laugh about getting this prompt, because the middle issue relates to something I've mentioned in a few conversations. Mainly what I was struck by, after reading fanfic for some time, how often people seem to vomit in them. Now maybe I'm not all that susceptible to doing it (although I sure was as a kid), but the last time I can remember doing so was 16 years ago, post-surgery. But fanfic characters? Seem to be constantly regurgitating to me. And I just had to wonder, "What is with all the puking?"

I realized I tended to see it in response to two things -– severe emotional upset and binge drinking. Interestingly, I tended to see more of the first in the Buffyverse fic and more of the latter in SPN fic.

On the one hand, I can kind of understand the vomiting in response to severe stress. We even see it onscreen in BtVS' "The Body". On the other, some people's emotional wiring must go directly to the gut because I've suffered through the death of both parents and some other pretty upsetting things besides, and never did I have this reaction. In some cases I read about characters having a fight with someone and immediately heading for the toilet. I can only assume authors are writing from their personal experience, in which case I feel pretty lucky to have the stomach I do (and perhaps also to have grown up in a family where screaming fights were the norm, and thus to be shrugged off instead of spewed over). 

But temperamental stomachs aside, my bigger concern was the second cause, which was the enormous amount of drinking that seems to go on in many fics. This stands out to me for two reasons. The first is that the amount of drinking seen compared to the amount of smoking and drug use is very imbalanced. And it seems to me that a central reason is that in canon we hardly ever see these characters smoking or using drugs, but we do often see them drink. 

Living in the U.S., there have been dramatic changes in terms of public smoking. I think that part of this public turn against smoking is reflected in what we see on screen. Other than on a show like Mad Men, which uses smoking almost for shock value, it has become rare to see characters smoking. There may be the occasional cigar but regular smokers are few. In BtVS fic when I see someone smoking it is most often Spike, who did smoke in canon, although this was sporadic and decreased as time went on. I also started to wonder if part of the reason he and Giles did so (who, as we saw in "Band Candy", apparently smoked in his youth) , was as part of marking them "not American" or not of Buffy's generation. Recently in watching Being Human I was struck by the character of Gilbert who seemed to be smoking _constantly_ during his single episode appearance. It was inescapable due to its very rarity to me. (I can't speak to how unusual this may be for British TV shows in general).

One exception I can think of was Buffy's (American) counselor in S3, who also smoked and was portrayed as a sympathetic character. It struck me as a form of humanizing the character, in the same way that Doc Cottle on BSG, one of the few regular characters I can think of that was often seen smoking, was seen to be doing something highly antithetical to his profession as part of his personal habits. I haven't read BSG fic nor have I seen Buffy's counselor appear in fanfic, so I don't really know how their habits have been taken on by writers, but there might be an indication given by what happens to Andy in SPN fic.

There have been some signs of drug use in BtVS as well as its appearance in Buffyverse fic, but aside from such portrayals being discouraged on TV, this is particularly the case for a show pitched at teens. Interestingly BtVS wrote some storylines geared to getting income from the Drug Czar's office, which was offering money to shows that produced anti-drug storylines. I can't remember where the article discussing this program can be found, but as I recall it didn't work out because whoever was managing the program felt the whole magic/supernatural storylines were too vague to really be seen as anti-drug statements. And to me this offers an explanation as to why drug storylines don't really need to make their way into Buffyverse fic very often, namely because the characters are so often affected by numerous spells, poisons, injuries, and possessions that drugs seem to be quite beside the point. Certainly never does a season go by where someone isn't under the influence of something. 

In SPN although there have been some vague references to drug use, mainly by Dean, no one seen regularly (and in fact I'm racking my brain to remember any single-episode characters) has been shown to be taking drugs or smoking. The central exception to this is Andy in S2, who we find out smokes pot thanks to Sam and Dean's discovery of his bong and his own reference to using it in a different episode. Interestingly, Andy is portrayed as a real outsider –- not only because of his special abilities, but because of what he doesn't choose to do with them. He is thus not just an outsider to society at large, but also to his own circle of similarly afflicted people. In fanfic, Andy is generally a very sympathetic character but, while I have seen a few stories that show his drug use, it's not something that makes any kind of default appearance. Despite his relative uniqueness in that respect, it does not become an exaggerated aspect of his character.

Instead in SPN we get a Sam storyline in S4 that seems to echo the Willow storyline in BtVS S6 regarding addiction. This is portrayed as quite negative to the both of them, leading each to nearly end the world and as a flaw in their character. The central issue for both of them is self-empowerment and control, not mere pleasure, despair, or escape. This seems to be echoed in fanfic, neither of which has (so far) really portrayed Sam or Willow as having addictive personalities, so much as having issues with control and judgment.

Contrary to the general absence of smoking and drugs in canon, and thus most fanfic, is the appearance of alcohol. No idea if the "Beer Bad" episode was in response to any network dictates either, but alcohol generally has a negative cast in BtVS, but less so in AtS, unless we consider the entire idea of Angel's attempt to stay on the wagon as an alcoholism metaphor (which I'm fairly sure I've heard someone on the show express). Buffy does drink from time to time but neither she nor any of the women are seen to do so often. Giles is shown to be drinking too often in S4 as a negative thing, as part of his feelings of inadequacy in his life. Spike is seen drinking enthusiastically, most notably in grief in S3 when Drusilla has dumped him, but fairly routinely otherwise. Of course, given his vampire metabolism, one could say this isn't the type of drinking that's of real importance where he's concerned.

By contrast, in fanfic both Giles and Spike do drink frequently and I think that alcohol makes a much more common appearance than it does in the series, with characters particularly likely to use it as a form of emotional bonding. However, what is interesting is that fanfic does this less often for Xander. Although Xander was never portrayed as having an alcohol dependency himself, it was mentioned several times in canon, as well as depicted in "Hells Bells", that Xander's father Tony was an alcoholic and that Xander feared turning out like him. This portrayal of Xander as a _child_ of an alcoholic (maybe plural, as it is less clear regarding his mother) seems to take precedence over his casual use of alcohol. In some fanfics, Xander is shown not to drink at all in fear of some genetic susceptibility, or simply as a form of self-definition as being not-Tony. This is even the case in some Spike/Xander fics, where Xander's relationship with alcohol is uneasy, compared to Spike's regular use. 

However, this idea about genetic susceptibility and not wanting to be one's parent holds less sway in SPN canon, and none that I've seen in SPN fanfic. The portrayal of John Winchester suggested strongly that John tended to rely heavily on alcohol (indeed early drafts of the Pilot designated him unambiguously as an alcoholic), perhaps not regularly, but certainly in binges. Sam refers various times to John's drinking and it's clear that, if nothing else, his father's use of it bothered him. 

This does not appear to bother Sam when it comes to Dean, or his own use of alcohol. Although it's implied once that Dean has a hangover, it's actually Sam we see drinking to excess, once in the middle of a case. After Dean's death he is drinking so much that Ruby insists he has to stop if he is to do anything useful with himself. Interestingly, the excessive use of alcohol all comes after John's death when it's implied Sam wants to make retrospective amends with John, and also after he likely realizes how much he has in common with his father. It isn't until S4 that this shift is made explicit in conversations he has with Dean, but it has already been implied in S3. Rather than alcohol being a point of separation, as it is for Xander and his father, Sam's use of it may be a form of connection. I have yet to see this explored in a fanfic though.

When alcohol is presented as problematic in SPN fanfic, it tends to be more as a form of shorthand, demonstrating that a character is struggling with some problem. This mirrors its use in canon, not only with Sam, but with Dean who in S4 begins to drink rather heavily himself, ostensibly as a way of coping with memories he is trying to shut out. What differs, though, is canon's use of excess exclusively as a sign of trouble, versus fanfic's use of it as a routine matter.

There is no question that Sam and Dean use alcohol often as a form of recreation. They are frequently seen drinking beers, and often harder alcohol. (The only use of wine I can think of occurs when Sam takes Sarah out to dinner). They visit bars often, usually for work, but occasionally for fun. The one time this may lead to excess drinking is in "Tall Tales", in Sam's story of Dean and Starla (who is quite clearly drunk). However, given Sam's perspective, Dean may not have been as tipsy as he seemed.

In fanfic however, Sam and Dean both tend to drink to excess regularly. They visit bars a great deal, and, if they're working, tend to stay clear headed, but often one or both is quite drunk when they leave. They also drink often when they're not in bars, rarely when they're on the job, but often in their motel room. They are frequently shown with hangovers which must be treated, and fairly often vomiting after a night of drinking. 

While some of the drinking is related to issues such as grief, lack of control, and depression, in fanfic alcohol is used a great deal as either the result of relationship conflict, or as a way of facilitating sex. For example, Sam or Dean is angsting about their feelings towards the other and uses alcohol as a way of escaping what they see as a hopeless situation. In other cases, either the character or the author consciously uses alcohol as a way to lower the inhibitions of one or both characters, so as to allow either the revelation of feelings or to excuse the crossing of physical boundaries between the characters. 

This frequent appearance in fanfic of alcohol as a tool has little connection with what occurs in canon regarding sex and alcohol. Although we hear about Dean's sexual exploits more often than we see them, in at least two cases (the bar in "Tall Tales", and the bar in "Provenance"), Dean is seen picking up women with alcohol. This is not particularly surprising since he's meeting the women in a bar. In S4 he and Jamie have drinks. but she has just been attacked and she works as a barmaid, so this again would seem to be a matter of setting. But in Sam's hookup in S4 it features from start to finish. Cara Roberts is nursing a hangover when Sam meets her, and he first expresses an interest in her by offering her a hangover cure. Later, before they have sex, she pulls out a bottle and pours them both drinks. And post-Sam, we see her heading to a bar. In this case alcohol use is a signifier of a problem, and Sam's decision to have sex with her is painted as poor judgment. Later, when talking with Dean and Bobby, he and Dean are explicitly shown to be drinking soda, and Sam declares his disinterest in meeting Cara again.

In fact Bobby, who makes a point of saying in that scene that they're not drinking because they'll be driving, is yet another example in canon of excess alcohol consumption being portrayed negatively. While from the start we see Bobby making regular use of alcohol, when Dean returns in S4 he makes a point of asking Bobby what's going on with all the drinking, and Bobby connects it to a stressful period of grief. Later, he abstains from alcohol as a sign of emotional recovery. 

Actual drunkenness is portrayed almost exclusively in a negative light in BtVS and SPN. This is not at all true in fanfic, particularly in Sam/Dean fic where excessive drinking is portrayed as common, and generally not commented on as being problematic.

What's most interesting to me is the portrayal of alcohol in RPS, specifically J2 fic. Although one can argue as to whether RPS has canon to maintain, in both set fic as well as AU fic, alcohol use is not only portrayed as common, but binge drinking is often shown as a routine form of entertainment. While some of the same issues appear in J2 fic that appear in Sam/Dean fic in terms of the use of alcohol as a tool, what is striking about much of it is the constant use of social drinking, almost always to excess in the case of one or more characters.

I would speculate then that what restricts the use of alcohol in a lot of fanfic is a need to have some canonical continuity. In a canon-free setting such as an AU or even, to some extent, a non-AU setting, alcohol is used much like profanity, as a shorthand for masculinity. Although when women do appear in these stories they are often drunk as well, more often than not it strikes me that the portrayals are done very deliberately to portray the characters as not-women.

Of course, the other implication is that the near constant use of alcohol in many stories reflects the spike in binge drinking and alcoholism among the under 40 set. While in the U.S. [barely more than half of adults consume even one drink a month](http://www.statemaster.com/graph/hea_alc_con_cas_dri-health-alcohol-consumption-casual-drinkers) the number of [drinkers who binge](http://www.statemaster.com/graph/hea_alc_con_bin_dri-health-alcohol-consumption-binge-drinkers) is about 1 out of 5. In some fics, most characters would be considered heavy drinkers, defined as "Adult men having more than two drinks per day and adult women having more than one drink per day," even though this is true [of only 5% of the population](http://www.statemaster.com/graph/hea_alc_con_hea_dri-health-alcohol-consumption-heavy-drinkers) as of 2004.

Shadowkat67 had a really [interesting description of SPN](http://shadowkat67.livejournal.com/466907.html) as a noir story. She said "most of it is bleak. Almost misanthropic or apologetic. Self-abasing. The noir hero hates himself, is self-loathing. The world he inhabits pointless, and hopeless." It strikes me that the use of alcohol we see in SPN reflects this perspective, as a form of hopelessness and self-loathing. By contrast, in many fanfics it seems to reflect a way of life.


End file.
